An owner of property in Iron and Ashland counties that was the site of a contentious proposal to mine iron ore is trying to resurrect plans for the mine, an Iron County economic development official said.

Officials of La Pointe Iron Co., one of the owners of the property that Gogebic Taconite unsuccessfully sought to develop as a massive open pit mine, met with local representatives in Hurley on Wednesday to discuss reviving the plans.

Kelly Klein, director of development for the Iron County Development Zone, said he and others met with La Pointe representatives, who told them they are eager to find another developer for the site.

Recap: Louisville

And once again, the Marquette Golden Eagles came up just a bit short against a top-notch opponent, falling 62-58 to the Louisville Cardinals at Freedom Hall on Sunday.

In what's becoming a pattern since Dominic James was lost for the rest of the season last week against Connecticut, MU played a top team even -- the Huskies were No. 2, the Cardinals No. 6 -- for most of the game, and then let things get away from it down the stretch.

The final six or so minutes were the difference in a 93-82 loss to UConn. A poor start out of the locker room to start the second half helped do the Golden Eagles in against the Cardinals, although they got to within 61-58 with 22.5 seconds left on a three-pointer by Lazar Hayward.

"I thought in the second half in the first two or three minutes it got away from us a little bit," said coach Buzz Williams. "It was going too fast. I thought maybe over the last 16 1/2 minutes in the second half we gave ourselves a chance. We had 34 possessions in the first half, they had 26. But we couldn’t keep that number where we needed to in the second half. That was the game.

"I thought our guys competed their guts out and gave us the best they could every single possession, and Louisville deserved the right to win."

Louisville used a 8-1 run over the first 2 minutes 22 seconds of the second half in which it got a pair of baskets from big man Samardo Samuels, and a layup and a dunk from guard Andre McGee.

MU very easily could have lost control of the game at that point. McGee's dunk came after he picked Jerel McNeal's pocket cleanly at half court, and got the crowd of 20,079 revved up. Matthews then turned the ball over on the next two possessions.

But the Golden Eagles weathered the storm, and a 12-5 run from that point forward got them to within 41-38 with 10:54 left. One of MU's baskets during that spurt came when Louisville's Earl Clark inadvertently knocked in a Jimmy Butler shot attempt.

"That’s big," said Matthews of the early hole. "They hit us first after the half. It happened against UConn, too. We can’t have lulls like that. We fought hard in the first half, had a chance to tie it at the end, the momentum was pretty much going our way, and they just came out ready and not all five of us on the court were ready and in sync.

"We’ve got to get that corrected."

-- So far, so good as far as the point guard slot goes.

Maurice Acker got the start in place of James, and turned in another solid 33-minute performance. He turned the ball over twice against the Cardinals' press -- an acceptable number -- while also chipping in with three points, three rebounds and three assists.

"We had 11 turnovers on the road against a team that is really, really good defensively – I think their percentages bear out in the Big East that they’re one of the best, if not the best, defensive teams," Williams said. "I thought Maurice, along with the rest of the guys that played today, did a really good job of dealing with the pressure."

Acker looks to have solidified his role as the starter, while Jimmy Butler and David Cubillan are both coming off the bench.

Butler had a personal-high 10 rebounds in 26 minutes, and Cubillan scored his first two points (on free throws) since Dec. 28, while also providing some steady ball handling.

-- McNeal's 10-point outing was his lowest since Dec. 28, when he scored nine against Presbyterian.

He had a few rattle in and out, but looked to be forcing things and playing too fast in the first half. Perhaps he was trying a little too hard to make up for the absence of James.

Whatever the case, if McNeal even comes close to an average shooting day, MU might have pulled out a big victory. As it turned out, the Golden Eagles shot a season-low 33.9%.

"He didn’t make many shots, but we’ll still let him shoot ‘em," said Williams of McNeal. "He’s the guy we want shooting the ball. A lot of that isn’t necessarily Jerel; a lot of that is Louisville and their athleticism with the players that they have. So we don’t want to say that it was an off shooting night for us; it was a great defensive effort by Louisville."

-- McNeal is also struggling somewhat from the free-throw line of late; he was 2 for 5 against Louisville and is 27 for 45 (60.0%) since the loss at South Florida on Feb. 6.

Could that be a sign of fatigue? Possibly, considering he also averaged 38.4 minutes over that same stretch, and has now played 40 minutes in MU's last three games.

Matthews, meanwhile, has played 40 minutes in two straight.

It is likely a sign of things to come for MU, which is obviously facing a serious manpower shortage with James out.

"I don’t know that we have a choice to be honest with you," said Williams when asked about the heavy minutes his senior guards are logging. "I thought Cooby did a good job of filling in. The problem is Maurice can play the point but Cooby can’t play the point. Mo’s not in a position from an efficiency standpoint to play 40 minutes, so now Mo comes out, Wes has to play the point, and I think Jerel’s probably played three or four minutes of 40 minutes anyway.

"So I would say that we’re probably trending in the direction that Wes and Jerel will have to play every possession of every game."

-- MU contines to hold its own against much bigger teams.

It was even against Louisville on the boards, and also did a good job limiting the damage done by 6-9 Earl Clark, the 6-8 Samuels and 6-10 Terrence Jennings.

"It was 37-37 on the boards, we had 12 offensive rebounds, they had 10," said Williams. "I’m not sure how many of those 10 translated into points. During the first two minutes the game got a little fast…obviously we’re size deficient, but I thought we did OK.

"Samardo Samuels is, was, always will be a McDonald’s All-American, first team, Big East freshman of the year, an NBA player. He’s a load to guard, and what he does best is he runs so hard and fast in transition they’re really looking to give it to him initially, before they do anything.

"I thought that our guys defensively competed and gave their absolute best effort. We may not win another game; I don’t know. But I’ll tell you this: I’m happy and proud to be their coach because of the effort that they gave us."

-- Williams said that James is in better spirits, and doing well since having surgery on his fractured left foot on Friday.

James had a screw placed in it to help speed the healing process, which is expected to take about three months. He didn't travel to Louisville because of the surgery, but should be able to accompany the Golden Eagles on the road here in the coming days and weeks.

"He’s doing great," said Williams. "I miss him as a person moreso than I miss him as a player. Life moves on. The sun will come up tomorrow. We’ve got to keep working. But I hate that, for Dominic’s life, that his career ended on the stage that it did. I think that he’s probably struggled since we left moreso than we were at home.

"Other than practice I’d been with Dominic and his family until we left. I probably talk to him every 3-4 hours. He’s coaching the team now. He’s Coach James. He has some ideas for me. Hopefully he’ll be able to travel with us to Pitt; it just depends on how he progresses over the next few days."

James' teammates have also kept in close contact with the senior guard.

"He’s got a lot more basketball to play," Matthews said. "It sucks that his career ended now rather than in March with all of us. But we’re wishing him a speedy recovery. Even against UConn at halftime he was pulling for us.

"He’s got a lot more hoops to play. It’s a minor setback, a bump in the road. He’s a tough kid, and he’s going to bounce back. And he’s got us around him."

James is scheduled to speak with the media for the first time since suffering the injury at 2 p.m. Monday.

-- How about Butler averaging 5.9 rebounds per game over his last seven?

It's not a stretch at all to call him the Golden Eagles' second-best rebounder now, aside from Hayward.

He's provided a huge boost off the bench since early February for a team that needs it badly.

-- The Golden Eagles are now 1-4 in their powder blue uniforms, including 0-2 at Freedom Hall.

They've lost twice in them this season -- once against Dayton, and again Sunday.

-- MU's 58 points represented its second-lowest scoring output of the season, behind only the 56 it put up in the loss at South Florida...The Golden Eagles' seven assist were a season low, although I don't think I'm stretching in saying Louisville's stat crew missed a few. Matthews and Acker each had three...Just a personal observation, but the Cardinals' Terrence Williams should merit serious consideration for Big East POY honors. His line against MU was indicative of his season averages: 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals, 3 three-pointers. He, like McNeal, is an absolute fantasy basketball player's dream with the way he stuffs the box score...Wauwatosa East graduate Jerry Smith usually has something to say whenever he plays MU. He managed just two points in 22 minutes against the Golden Eagles this time, however.